Page 78 of The Alpha's Protective Mate

“I’ll have a donut and a beef sandwich.” He grins at me, clearly smug from overhearing the boyfriend comment.

Before I can say anything, his smile fades. He looks over his shoulder at the two vampires, who are no longer smirking. The look of unease on their faces is evident as they quickly exit the cafe.

Jazz scowls. “We need to start banning these idiots! They keep wasting coffee!”

“What’s going on?” Robert looks between us, and Jazz replies furiously.

“These weirdos have started coming in, ordering coffee, not drinking it, and leaving! It’s such a waste of resources. They could just pay for a cup to pay it forward if they don’t want to drink it!”

She storms off, and Robert turns his attention to me, his face grim. “Since when have vampires been showing up here?”

“Ever since I came back to work.” My hands are shaking. I try to hide them behind the counter, but nothing misses Robert’s attention.

He reaches across the counter and takes my hands in his. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

His voice is calm.

As I look at him, I know the real reason why.

“I thought—I thought you might think that I knew them or that I called them here. But I didn’t! They just stare at me the whole time. They don’t say anything to me. It’s as if they just want me to know that they’re watching me. But I really don’t know them, Robert. I prom—”

“I trust you,” he cuts me off seamlessly.

My mouth feels dry as I stare at him. “I don’t understand why they’re coming here. I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall. I’m scared to go out back to throw out the trash or be in the cafe by myself. I—”

Anger flickers in Robert’s eyes. “If you were so terrified, you should have come to me, Charlotte! You haven’t recognized even one of them?”

“No.”

“Is there any way I can see their faces?”

I know what he’s asking, and I press my lips together. “I don’t think Jazz will be okay with you looking through our security footage, but I’ll tell her I need to talk to you in private or something. The monitor is in the back office. Just give me a minute to see if I can take my break.”

I move away from the counter to go find Jazz in the kitchen. She is stewing.

“Hey, do you mind taking over for a bit? Robert needs to talk to me in private, so we’ll be in the back office.”

My voice is casual, and Jazz straightens up. “Sure.”

As she walks past me, she grins. “Just how much ‘talking’ will you two be doing?”

“Shut up, Jazz,” I mutter, and she laughs.

“You’re such a prude,” she teases me. I don’t take her words as an insult, knowing she enjoys trying to get under my skin every now and then. Sometimes I wonder, if things had been different, if Arabella and I would have shared a similar relationship.

Shaking off the thought, I gesture toward Robert from the doorway, and he follows me into the office. Making sure the door is locked, I search through the recordings. I start from my first day back.

“There.” I pause the screen, pointing at the women. “I don’t know them.”

Robert takes out his phone and snaps a picture of them. “Who else?”

I take him through the footage from the last couple of days, and he takes pictures of everyone I point out. However, he isn’t content.

“Can you show me the day after you were attacked?”

I glance up at him. “Why?”

“Just humor me.”

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